Teach

Educators #FightRacism

Create an environment of acceptance and celebration

There are many ways to make classrooms and other learning environments a place of acceptance and celebration. Recognizing that interpersonal styles can be driven by culture, as well as personality, is key.

Cultural factors can influence some of our interpersonal responses, such as

  • how much eye contact we find comfortable
  • how receptive we are to group learning strategies
  • our style of dramatic play or story-telling

For better understanding and greater acceptance, educators are encouraged to introduce as much cultural diversity as possible into the curriculum. If and when there is conflict, deal with it; do not dismiss it. Seize this as an opportunity to raise awareness and celebrate diversity. Introduce as much cultural diversity as possible into the curriculum.

 

On Race

A group of multiracial students in discussion
©Handong Global University

Next Generation Entrepreneurship Training in Rwanda organized by Handong Global University (Republic of Korea), UNAI Hub for Capacity Building. We can all work together to create a better world! Regardless of race, culture or creed.

Tips for educators

  • Awareness

    Teach students how to recognize behaviour that may reinforce racism

    See UNESCO's Master Class Series against Racism and Discriminations, a global "training for trainers" initiative. Using a human rights-based approach, the classes serve as dialogue spaces and peer learning forums among the participants, experts, resource persons, and invited personalities, to openly discuss the taboos that corrode the social and moral fiber in societies.

  • Curriculum

    Include stories of:

    • People who have fought against discrimination, such as Nelson Mandela (human rights lawyer, prisoner of conscience, international peacemaker and the first democratically elected president of a free South Africa) and Ralph Bunche (first African American and person of color to receive the Nobel Peace Prize)
    • Contributions made by people from all parts of the world, such as people of African Descent, to the common stock of human knowledge and experience

  • Activities

    Invite people of different races to speak about what they do as individuals and as members of community groups.

 

In-depth reading Vulnerable groups: people of African descent

On Minorities

UNHCR

 

Minorities can thrive when given opportunities!

Yonas works in the pharmacy of the Robert Schuman Hospital in Luxembourg City distributing COVID-19 vaccines. Five years after competing in Rio as part of the first-ever Refugee Olympic Team, Yonas now fits his training in around studying for a qualification in pharmaceutical logistics and working in the pharmacy.

Tips for educators

Define "Minority group"

Help students develop a definition of “Minority group.” Include both objective factors (such as the existence of a shared ethnicity, language or religion) and subjective factors (for example: individuals must identify themselves as members of a minority).

Brainstorm with students to create a list of contemporary “minority groups,” starting with the local community. Don’t forget to include minorities based on class, ability, sexual identity and orientation and other non-racial factors.

Questions to keep in mind
  • Are they always in a minority by numbers?
  • In what ways do minorities usually differ from the majority or dominant population?
  • Do these minority groups experience discrimination?
  • In what ways?
  • What are some circumstances that create minority groups in a population (e.g. indigenous peoples, immigrants, refugees, migrant workers)?
 

In-depth reading Vulnerable groups: minorities

UNESCO and OSCE launched the framework curricula for teacher trainers to address anti-Semitism in schools. See their policy guide for addressing anti-Semitism through education

On Cultural Identity/ Cultural Diversity

An indigenous father stands in a crowd holding his daughter and a paddle
This Squamish father is giving his paddle to his daughter in hopes that she too will make a similar trip one day ©UN Photo/John Isaac

 

The Qatuwas Festival, an international gathering of maritime indigenous nations of the Pacific Rim, was hosted summer of 1993 by the Heiltsuk Nation in their village of Bella Bella, approximately 350 miles up the British Columbia coast from Vancouver, Canada. The festival, held from 27 June to 3 July, coincided with the United Nations International Year of the World's indigenous people.

Tips for educators

Examine your own community and discuss

  • Are there cultural minorities?
  • Is their culture respected?
  • Do they participate freely and publicly in their culture, or are they expected to do so only privately, or not at all?
  • Does your school encourage respect for the culture of minority groups?
  • Why is the right to cultural identity so important?
  • Why is it important to preserve, develop and appreciate different cultures?
  • Why do dominant groups often seek to impose their culture on minority groups?

Older students could eventually do case studies to find out about the size, location, history, culture, contemporary living conditions and key claims of specific minority groups.

Decade of Indigenous Languages (2022 – 2032)

As the world prepares to mark the upcoming Decade of Indigenous Languages, consider engaging students in examining Indigenous language users’ human rights, and encourage parrticipation in the global celebrations.

 

In-depth reading Vulnerable groups: indigenous peoples